El Taller: Central America: Ground Zero for Empire with Hilary Goodfriend

ByMexico Solidarity

El Taller, the interview series from the Soberanía podcast, is back! Hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth sit down with Hilary Goodfriend, a postdoctoral researcher at UNAM and longtime observer of Central American politics, for a wide-ranging conversation about the region’s distinct political trajectory.

The discussion opens with a historical overview of Central America, tracing how U.S. interventions, civil wars, and neoliberal restructuring shaped a region often viewed through a Mexican lens but with its own unique patterns of resistance and repression. From the 1954 coup in Guatemala to the negotiated peace accords of the 1990s, Goodfriend maps the political terrain that produced today’s fragmented landscape.

The conversation then turns to contemporary dynamics: the recent “Shield of the Americas” summit, the uneven rise of far-right figures like Nayib Bukele, and the electoral manipulation and judicial sabotage that have stymied progressive governments across the isthmus. The hosts and Goodfriend also discuss the role of U.S. ambassador Ron Johnson, whose low-profile presence in Mexico contrasts sharply with his previous role in El Salvador—raising questions about what’s happening behind the scenes.

Throughout, the conversation underscores the urgent need for a coordinated progressive response in the region, the lessons Mexico might draw from Central America’s recent history, and the strategic leverage Mexico holds—if it chooses to use it.